Ahead of Diwali, Delhi air deteriorates to ‘severe’

ET Bureau|

Nov 06, 2018, 08.35 AM IST

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Monday saw a sharp turn for the worse as Delhi had “moderate” air quality at 171 on Sunday.

NEW DELHI: After a day’s respite, a thick smog engulfed Delhi and the National Capital Region on Monday and turned the air quality to ‘severe’ – the second time in the past one week. But worse could be in store in the days ahead, as incidents of stubble burning are on the rise in Punjab and Haryana.

On Air Quality Index (AQI), Delhi registered 426, which falls in the ‘severe’ category. Satellite townships had equally bad air quality. Faridabad had an index value of 421, Ghaziabad 435, Greater Noida 425 and Noida 433. Gurgaon was the only place in Delhi-NCR which fared better and had “very poor” air quality at 325.

Monday saw a sharp turn for the worse as Delhi had “moderate” air quality at 171 on Sunday. Meteorological department officials had attributed that to the light breeze in the city which dispersed the pollutants. The air quality had turned “severe” for the first time on October 30. However, even then it was 401on AQI. An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401and 500 ‘severe’.

Officials attributed the sudden deterioration to a change in wind direction, now blowing from the north-western region towards Delhi, bringing with it dust and smoke from stubble burning in neighbouring states.

An official with the System of Air Quality Forecasting and Research said intensified stubble burning accounted for nearly 24 % of the air pollution in the national capital. The Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, too, said the increase in PM2.5 concentration was due to a change in the wind direction and biomass burning.

The Delhi government launched an aggressive 10-day ‘Clean Air Campaign’ from November 1 to monitor and report polluting activities.